Murdoch Funeral Homes & Cremation Services

Seems strange to rate a funeral home «Yay! I’m a fan.». But then again, I wore a red dress to my Mom’s funeral, so I suppose I’ve already disregarded the normal somberness that accompanies these things.
I chose Murdoch in Marion for my Mom’s cremation and memorial because we had my Dad’s funeral at the Murdoch funeral home in Manchester, IA.
The staff members were all respectful and helpful throughout the process. I had originally planned on using the Murdoch location in Cedar Rapids but changed my mind after we’d already sat down with the funeral director. Instead of passing me off to someone else he continued to work with me on the details and was at the Marion location for the memorial. That’s going above and beyond in my opinion and I really appreciated it. My Mom didn’t want a traditional funeral service but we wanted to have a memorial reception for her. It was obviously not the type of event they normally do at Murdoch (or most funeral homes I imagine) but they handled all my requests and didn’t give me any push back at all.
Ryan, the funeral director I was working with, was patient and helpful while walking me through the options for the service and obituaries. I was surprised how quickly they typed up the obituary and had copies for me to edit. They also very quickly got me pricing for placing an obituary in the Chicago Tribune. I expected both would be something I’d have to come back for later or would be emailed to me, but it only took about 10 minutes while I was busy with other decisions. When I showed up expecting a table in the room to put food and drinks on they had a table set up with everything I would need in about 5 minutes. Towards the end of a very long day I realized I’d have to figure out how to get all the flowers and plants home. Onore, who was helping Ryan and was available throughout the afternoon/​evening for anything we needed, quickly let me know that they could deliver the flowers for free the next day. Maybe that’s common for funeral homes to do, but I didn’t expect it and I greatly appreciated it. These little things don’t sound like a big deal but in the middle of a difficult time they make all the difference in the world.
Now, when I say the flowers were delivered «free» I suppose that’s probably not the right word. Maybe I should say «for no additional charge than the incredible amount they had already charged me». Had it not been for the incredible price tag of this modest event I would’ve given them 5 stars. I can’t believe how expensive anything having to do with a funeral is. I can’t help but think they’re taking advantage of people, along the same lines as anything «wedding» related is automatically more expensive. I suppose this is probably more a comment on the industry, not Murdoch specifically.
I would recommend any of the Murdoch funeral homes. They made a difficult time just a little bit easier and I can’t say enough how important that is.